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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

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Class 

\ 


OF  THE 

ilNlVERSlTv.  * 

OF  / 


AfJ^/d.r'*^^ 


Og^^^^^ 


MEMORIAL 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SENATE 


UPON  THE  DEATH  OF 


HON.  G.  FRANK  ROWLAND, 


LATE  A  SENATOR  FROM  THE  FOURTEENTH  DISTRICT 


OF 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


HARRISBURG,    PA.: 
HARRISBURG    PDBLISHING  CO.,   STATE  PRINTER. 

1909. 


tXCHAHGi 


11 


(«) 


RESOLUTION 


In  the  Senate, 
April  9,    1909. 

Resolved,  (if  the  House  of  Representatives  concur),  That  one  thou- 
sand (1,000)  copies  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Memorial  services,  held  in 
honor  of  the  late  Honorable  G.  Frank  Rowland,  be  printed  for  the  use 
of  the  Senate. 

HARMON  M.  KEPHART, 
Chief  Clerk  of  the  Senate. 
The  foregoing  resolution  concurred  in  April  9,   1909. 

THOMAS  H.  GARVIN, 
Chief  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Approved— The  13th  day  of  May,   A.  D.  1909. 

EDWIN  S.  STUART. 


(3) 


206481 


ii 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE   SENATE 


UPON  THE  DEATH  OF 


HON.  G.  FRANK  ROWLAND. 


In  the  Senate, 
Wednesday,   March  3,   1909. 

On  motion  of  Senator  Grim,  the  following  resolution  was  twice  read, 
considered  and  agreed  to,   viz: 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  eight  members  of  the  Senate  be  ap- 
pointed to  draft  suitable  resolutions  on  the  death  of  the  late  Senator, 
G.  Frank  Rowland,  who  died  on  October  two,  one  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  seven,  and  present  such  resolutions  at  a  special  meeting  to  be 
held  on  Wednesday,  March  twenty-four,  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
nine,   at  three  o'clock  post  meridian. 


(5) 


(6) 


MEMORIAL  RESOLUTIONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


In  the  Senate, 
Wednesday,  March  24,  1909. 

AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Pursuant  to  adjournment,  the  Senate  was  called  to  order 
at  three  o'clock  post  meridian,  President  Pro  Tempore  Sisson 
in  the  Chair. 

PRAYER. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  Reverend  M.  D.  Lichliter,  as  fol- 
lows : 

O,  Lord,  we  recognize  Thee  as  the  Father  of  our  being; 
Thou  dost  give  and  Thou  dost  take  away.  Help  us  in  our 
own  hearts  to  bless  God  for  all  His  mercies  and  for  the 
privileges  of  living  in  this  world.  In  the  midst  of  life's 
cares  and  life's  duties  impress  upon  each  of  us,  upon  each  of 
the  members  of  this  Senate,  the  important  thought  of  our 
latter  end.  We  are  taught  upon  every  side  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  life  and  the  certainty  of  death;  that  we  are  like 
as  grass  that  groweth  up  and  is  cut  down  and  withereth ; 
we  are  here  for  a  day  and  then  go  to  our  long  home.  As 
the  winter  comes  the  earth  is  covered  with  snow  and  the 
earth  is  frozen,  an  emblem  of  death ;  yet  as  the  zephyrs  of  the 
spring  time  are  swept  upon  us  reminding  us  that  the  flowers 
will  again  bloom  and  the  earth  wnll  be  covered  with  verdure, 
so  from  Thy  blessed  word  come  the  zephyrs  from  the  mighty 
tomb  of  our  blessed  Christ  that  they  who  sleep  shall  rise 
again  and  their  mortal  bodies  shall  be  clothed  with  immortal 
bodies  and  they  shall  enter  into  the  rest  prepared  for  Thy 
people  with  bodies  crowned  like  unto  Thine  own  glorious 

f7) 


MEMORIAL  SERVICES. 


body.  Bless,  we  pray  Thee,  this  service  and  especially  let 
Thy  blessing  rest  upon  the  immediate  friends  of  the  deceased ; 
comfort  them  by  Thy  word  and  Spirit,  and  especially  bless 
him  that  is  the  brother  representing  his  district  in  this  Senate. 
Be  Thou  especially  near  to  him.  Hear  us  and  bless  us,  and 
finally  when  life  is  o'er,  bring  us  to  heaven  through  Christ. 
Amen. 

Mr.  GRIM.  Mr.  President,  I  desire  to  offer  the  following 
resolutions : 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Whereas,  G.  Frank  Rowland,  a  member  of  the  Senate  of 
Pennsylvania  for  the  Fourteenth  Senatorial  District,  has, 
during  the  interim  of  the  present  session  of  the  Senate,  de- 
parted this  life ;  and 

Whereas,  His  services  to  his  constituents  and  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  entitle  him  to  commemoration  by  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Senate;^  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania  hereby  enter 
upon  its  minutes  its  appreciation  of  the  services  of  the  late 
Senator  Rowland,  as  a  member  of  this  body.  He  was  at  all 
times  esteemed  for  his  fidelity  to  duty  and  for  the  honest 
endeavor  which  he  brought  to  the  solution  of  questions  of 
legislation  submitted  to  the  Senate  during  the  session  of 
1907;  and 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  express  our  sympathy  to  his 
family,  and  direct  that  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  properly 
attested,  be  communicated  with  our  respect  to  the  members 
of  his  family. 

WEBSTER  GRIM, 
A.  G.  DEWALT,. 
JAMES  K.  P.  HALL, 
'  EDWARD  F.  BLEWITT, 

EDWARD  F.  JAMES, 
WILLIAM  H.  KEYSER, 
EDWIN  M.  HERBST, 
JOSEPH  A.  LANGFITT. 


HON.  G.   FRANK  ROWI^AND. 


ADDRESSES. 

Mr.  GRIM.  Mr.  President,  One  week  ago  to-day  we 
^T/ihered  here  to  pay  a  last  tribute  to  our  late  fellow-mem- 
ber, Senator  Algernon  Brooke  Roberts,  and  to-day  we  have 
met  to  pay  cur  public  tribute  of  respect  to  another  fellow- 
member  who  passed  away  during  his  term  of  office,  the  Sen- 
ator from  Pike  county,  G.  Frank  Rowland.  The  ravages  of 
time  and  death  alike  make  great  changes  in  our  ranks.  A 
few  days  ago  I  looked  upon  the  picture  which  contains  the 
photographs  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  of  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  five.  I  noted  the  changes  arid  could 
scarcely  realize  that  thirty-five,  or  two-thirds,  of  the  mem- 
bers who  sat  with  us  in  the  session  before  the  last  one,  are 
with  us  no  longer,  and  that  one-fifth  of  that  number  have 
been  called  to  their  reward.  I  venture  the  assertion  that  at 
no  other  period  in  the  history  of  the  Commonwealth  has 
such  a  great  change  been  made  within  the  short  space  of  four 
years.  With  truth  has  it  been  said  that  ''Our  days  are  like 
the  shadow  that  declineth.  As  for  man,  his  days  are  as  the 
grass,  as  the  flowers  of  the  field  so  he  perisheth,  for  the  wind 
passeth  over  it  and  it  is  gone,  and  the  place  thereof  shall 
know  it  no  more."  We  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  the 
Senate  as  a  continuous  body,  in  which  few  changes  take 
place.  The  Senate  is  a  continuous  body,  surrounded  by  cus- 
toms and  bulwarked  by  the  traditions  of  the  past.  We  glory 
in  its  seeming  stability,  but  the  members  thereof  come  like 
the  mountain  streams  in  the  spring  tide,  and  go  like  the  flot- 
sam that  is  swept  over  Niagara.  The  ship  of  State  rides 
on,  but  the  sailors  who  man  her  are  swept  from  her  decks, 
and  new  hands  and  new  faces  pull  the  sails  or  turn  the  wheel. 
Such  is  the  rule  of  our  existence. 

Honorable  George  Frank  Rowland  was  born' in  Rowland, 
Pike  county,  Pennsylvania,  September  seventh,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty,  where  his  father.  Honorable  George 
H.  Rowland,  was  then  and  until  the  time  of  his  death,  in  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-five,  engaged  in  business 
as  merchant,  lumberman  and  farmer.     He  was  educated  in 


10  MEJMORIAIy  SERVICES. 

the  public  schools  of  his  native  village,  at  Fort  Edward 
Collegiate  Institute,  Fort  Edward,  New  York,  and  Eastman's 
Business  College,  Poughkeepsie,  New  York. 

After  completing  his  education,  he  returned  to  his  home 
and  assisted  his  father  in  the  management  of  his  business 
until  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-two,  when  he 
located  in  Wilkes-Barre,  Pennsylvania,  and  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  until  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
ninety-seven,  when,  on  account  of  the  recent  death  of  his 
father,  he  returned  to  his  former  home  and  assumed  the 
management  of  his  father's  estate ;  here  he  remained  until  the 
time  of  his  death. 

He  was  postmaster  at  Rowland,  Pennsylvania,  from  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two  to  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-two,  and  again  from  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-seven  to  one  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  four,  having  resigned  both  commissions  because 
other  business  engagements  demanded  his  whole  attention. 

Senator  Rowland  was  all  his  mature  life  a  supporter  of 
Democratic  principles,  but  until  the  time  of  his  return  to  his 
former  home,  in  Pike  county,  in  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  ninety-seven,  his  business  engagements  had  been 
such  as  to  afford  him  little  time  to  engage  in  the  active 
work  of  his  party.  Soon  after  his  return  to  his  native 
county,  he  became  a  worker  in  the  ranks  of  his  party,  and 
so  efficient  were  his  labors  that  in  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  he  was  nominated  and  elected  County 
Treasurer  of  Pike  county.  In  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  two  and  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  four  he  was 
nominated  by  the  Democracy  of  his  county  as  their  choice 
for  Congress,  failing,  however,  to  receive  the  district  nomi- 
nation. During  his  comparatively  short  political  career  he 
was  frequently  called  upon  to  serve  his  party  as  a  delegate 
to  district  and  State  conventions,  which  service  he  always 
performed  cheerfully. 

He  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania  from  the 
Fourteenth  District  in  November,  one  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  six,  and  served  during  the  session  of  one  thousand 


HON.  G.  FRANK  ROWIvAND.  11 

nine  hundred  and  seven.  He  died  at  his  home,  at  Rowland, 
on  October  second,  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seven. 
Senator  Rowland  was  never  married,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  was  living  at  the  Rowland  homestead,  with  two  un- 
married sisters. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  know  Senator  Rowland  well. 
He  was  a  faithful  and  conscientious  public  servant,  and  while 
he  made  no  pretentions  of  being  a  leading  member  of  the 
Senate,  he  was  a  valued  member  of  the  minority  and  had  an 
important  part  and  mission  in  the  reform  legislation  of  one 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  seven.  We  all  loved  him  for  his 
kindness  of  heart  and  sympathetic  nature.  He  never  was  a 
fault  finder,  and  never  a  word  of  criticism  did  he  pass  upon 
his  fellow-members.  He  was  conscientious  at  all  times;  he 
belonged  to  that  class  of  men  who  practice  the  proverb  that 
"A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath,"  a  trait  of  character 
that  all  of  us  could  contemplate  with  profit  to  one's  peace  of 
mind.  The  world  in  these  days  of  selfishness  needs  more  of 
the  "milk  of  human  kindness,"  and  when  we  find  a  man  who 
has  trained  himself  to  practice  this  virtue,  we  feel  that  the 
world  can  ill  afford  to  spare  him. 

"True  worth  is  in  being,   not  seeming', 

In  doing  each  day  that  goes  by 
Some  little  good,  not  in  the  dreaming 

Of  great  things  to  do  by  and  by. 
For  whatever  men  say  in  their  blindness, 

And  spite  of  the  fancies  of  youth. 

There's  nothing  so  kingly  as  kindness, 

And   nothing   so   royal   as    truth." 

Such  a  man  was  our  fellow-member,  Senator  Rowland. 
But  his  work  was  ended  suddenly;  almost  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  he  was  beckoned  across  the  River.  He  answered 
the  summons,  and  there  safe  within  the  mansions  of  eternal 
bliss,  far  removed  from  the  strife  and  turmoil  of  this  life,  he 
rests,  we  hope,  in  peace. 

"There  is  many  a  rest  in  the  road  of  life, 

If  we  only  would  ^op  to  take  it. 
And  many  a  tune   from  the  better  L<and, 

If  the  querulous  heart  would  make  it! 


12  MEMORIAL  SERVICES. 

To  the  sunny  soul  that  is   full  of  hope, 
And   whose   beautiful  trust  ne'er   faileth. 

The  grass  is  green  and  the  flowers  are  bright, 
Though  the  wintry  storm  prevaileth." 

"Better  to  hope,   though  the  clouds  hang  low, 

And  to  keep  the  eyes  still  lifted; 
For  the  sweet  blue  sky  will  soon  peep  through. 

When  the  ominous  clouds  are  rifted; 
There  was  never  a  night  without  a  day 

Or  an  evening  without  a  morning; 
And  the  darkest  hour,   as  the  proverb  goes. 

Is  the  hour  before  the  dawning. 

"Better  to  weave  in  the  web  of  life 

A  bright  and  golden  filling. 
And  to  do  God's  will  with  a  ready  heart. 

And  hands  that  are  swift  and  willing, 
Than   to   snap  the   delicate,    slender  threads 

Of  our  curious  lives  asunder. 
And  then   blame  Heaven  for  the  tangled  ends. 

And  sit,   and  grieve,   and  wonder." 

Mr.  MILLER  (Northampton).  Mr.  President  and  Fel- 
low-Senators, It  is  a  melancholy  duty  and  yet  a  privilege  not 
to  be  foregone  to  speak  a  word  touching  the  life  of  the  friend 
and  fellow-Senator  who  has  so  lately  passed  from  our  midst. 
Of  him  whose  amiable  personal  qualities  endeared  him  to  us 
all  in  so  great  a  degree.  Senator  Rowland  was  born  in  Row- 
land, Pike  County,  on  the  seventh  day  of  September,  Anno 
Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty.  Was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania  in  November,  one 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  six,  from  the  Fourteenth  Sena- 
torial District  which,  with  Northampton,  the  Eighteenth 
District,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  forms  the 
Twenty-sixth  Congressional  District  of  Pennsylvania. 

My  acquaintance  with  Senator  Rowland  is  of  very  recent 
date,  dating  back  to  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  four. 
I  met  him  during  the  summer  of  that  year  while  attending 
several  Congressional  conferences,  hence  I  am  not  qualified 
to  speak  of  his  early  life  and  career,  more  than  to  state  that 
he  had  been  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  constituency,  and  that 
numerous  honors  were  bestowed  upon  him  by  his  native 
county  and  by  his  Senatorial  and  Congressional  Districts. 


HON.  G.  FRANK  ROWLAND.  13 

He  has  gone  from  us  so  recently  that  it  is  hard  to  reaUze 
that  his  famiUar  presence  is  not  among  us  still,  and  even  hard- 
er yet  to  know  that  we  shall  never  more  see  him  in  his  seat 
in  this  hall,  or  in  his  place  at  the  committee  table.  It  is  pain- 
ful to  adjust  ourselves  to  the  stony  reahty  of  fact  with  respect 
to  his  departure — painful  to  think  that  he  has  gone  irrevoca- 
bly on  his  long  journey  to  the  undiscovered  country,  from 
whose  bourne  no  traveler  returns. 

Yes,  he  has  gone  from  us  so  recently  that  his  presence  is  as 
fresh  before  our  minds  as  though  we  had  heard  him  greet  us 
but  an  hour  ago. 

We  all  know  that  his  temperament  and  disposition  were 
alike  lovable  and  rare.  All  his  instincts  were  kindly  and  hu- 
mane. He  was  utterly  devoid  of  malice.  His  heart  was 
warm  and  gentle  as  a  woman's,  and  his  conscience  as  dehcate 
and  keen. 

None  of  us  in  the  legislative  arena  here,  ever  heard  an  un- 
kind word  fall  from  his  lips.  His  temper  was  of  the  sweetest, 
inoffensive,  beneficent. 

So  far  as  my  knowledge  and  observation  extend,  all  out- 
ward manifestations  of  anger,  resentment,  and  irritation  were 
unknown  to  him  and  to  his  conduct  in  Hfe. 

He  never  considered  or  treated  public  questions  from  the 
personal  side  or  from  the  private  or  individual  standpoint. 
On  the  contrary,  his  treatment  of  such  questions  was  invari- 
ably abstract  and  impersonal,  whether  they  were  distinctly 
political  or  public  in  a  wide  sense. 

He  had  strong,  pure  affections  that  bound  him  to  his  State 
and  to  his  friends  like  hands  of  steel. 

"He   seemed  the  thing-  he  was,    and  joined 

Each  office  of  the  social  hour 

To  noble  manner,   as  the  flower, 

And  native  growth  of  noble  mind; 

And    thus   he  bore   without   abuse 

The  grand  old  name  of  g-entleman." 

I  know  of  no  sincerer  compliment  which  the  Hving  pay  the 
dead  than  their  sorrow ;  and  as  for  Senator  Rowland,  with  all 
my  heart,  I  wish  he  were  living  still. 

There  was,  there  is,  no  simpler,  gentler,  manlier  man. 


14  MEMORIAIv  SERVICES. 

Mr.  JAMES.  Mr.  President  and  Fellow-Members:  It 
was  my  good  fortune  also  to  know  Senator  Rowland.  We 
came  here,  as  most  men  do,  to  this  body — strangers.  We 
first  met  on  this  floor.  I  was  assigned  to  a  seat  next  to  his, 
and  we  became  very  warm  friends.  He  was  possessed  of  a 
bright,  happy  disposition,  and  his  friends  who  knew  him  best 
appreciated  the  warmth  of  the  rays  of  sunshine  that  radiated 
from  the  soul  of  this  man,  who  was  always  ready  with  a  smile 
and  a  clasp  of  hand,  such  as  to  make  you  feel  that  it  was  good 
to  know  him,  and  to  be  numbered  among  his  friends.  I 
think,  perhaps,  nothing  more  beautiful  can  come  into  any 
man's  life  than  the  association  which  we  enjoy  here  in  the 
Senate  of  Pennsylvania.  And  while  speaking  for  myself 
I  am  sure  that  I  voice  the  sentiments  of  my  colleagues  when 
I  say  that  this  good  fellowship  appeals  to  no  one  stronger 
than  the  man  whose  memory  we  are  here  to  call  to  mind  this 
afternoon.  During  the  past  summer  I  had  occasion  to  go  in- 
to his  home  town.  I  made  inquiry  for  him  there  among  his 
friends.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  visited  that  part  of  the 
State,  and  was  going  to  say  I  was  surprised  to  know  how 
many  people  knew  him.  In  conversation  with  a  man  whom 
I  met  by  accident,  while  stopping  over  in  the  town  for  a  few 
hours,  who,  after  he  knew  that  I  had  been  acquainted  with 
Senator  Rowland,  said  to  me,  ''Senator  James,  I  want  to  say 
to  you  that  in  this  part  of  the  country  we  all  loved  Frank 
Rowland."  I  told  his  friend  on  that  occasion,  ''That  is  not 
strange,  because  we  learned  to  do  that  in  Harrisburg." 
During  the  last  session  of  the  Senate,  when  he  and  I  were 
here  as  new  members,  and  as  some  of  you  older  members 
very  well  know,  we  were  oftentimes  in  need  of  the  advice 
and  counsel  of  the  other  fellow.  I  never  hesitated  and  always 
took  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  in  asking  that  of  Frank  Row- 
land, which  we  frequently  ask  of  the  other  men  on  this  floor. 
And  you,  gentlemen,  who  were  here  at  that  time,  know  that 
anything  in  the  power  of  Frank  Rowland  to  give,  was  al- 
ways most  cheerfully  given.  During  that  session  a  great 
many  of  my  friends  from  my  home  town  visited  here,  and 
were  always  extended  the  courtesies  usually  given  by  the  Sen- 


HON.  G.  FRANK  ROWLAND.  15 

ators  on  occasions  of  that  kind.  Frank  Rowland  was  one  of 
the  first  who  took  care  to  see  that  my  friends  were  looked 
after  and  taken  care  of  while  here*.  I  shall  always  remember 
him  for  his  unselfishness,  and  also  for  his  many  acts  of  kind- 
ness, not  only  to  myself,  but  to  the  people  with  whom  he 
came  in  daily  contact. 

I  deem  it  a  great  privilege,  Mr.  President,  on  this  occasion 
to  say  this  word  in  his  memory. 

The  question  being  on  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions, 
the  yeas  and  'nays  were  taken  in  accordance  with  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Chair,  and  were  as  follows : 

YEAS. 

Messrs.  Baldwin,  Blewitt,  Campbell,  Catlin,  Cochran, 
Crawford,  Crow,  Dewalt,  Dimeling,  Durham,  Fox,  Gerber- 
ich.  Grim,  Hall,  Harper,  Hays,  Homsher,  Hulings,  James, 
Jamison,  Keyser,  Kline,  KHnedinst,  Kurtz,  Manbeck,  Mar- 
tin, McConnell,  Mcllhenny,  McNichol,  Miller  (Northamp- 
ton), Miller  (Bedford),  Murphy,  Riley,  Rodgers,  Rowland, 
Shields,  Snyder,  Templeton,  Thomson,  Tustin,  Vare,  Wal- 
ton, Weingartner,  Wertz,  Wilbert,  Wolf  and  Sisson,  Presi- 
dent pro  tempore. — ^47. 

ABSENT  AND  NOT  VOTING. 

Messrs.  Herbst,  Langfitt  and  Sproul. — 3. 

All  the  Senators  having  voted  in  the  affirmative,  the 
Chair  declared  that  the  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted. 


16  MKMORIAIv  SERVICES. 

ADJOURNMENT. 

Mr.  GRIM.     Mr.  President,  I  move  that  the  Senate  do 
now  adjourn. 

Mr.  MILLER  (Northampton).     Mr.  President,  I  second 
the  motion. 

The  question  being, 
Will  the  Senate  agree  to  the  motion? 

It  was  agreed  to. 
Whereupon  at  four  o'clock  post  meridian,  the  Memorial 
session  adjourned. 


206481 

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